He was really here standing right in front of me. I almost don't want to believe this is real. It seemed like forever since I last saw him. He looked much different now. The years had turned the once handsome boy into the rugged, muscular man that stood before him today. It had been at least five years since the choosing ceremony and it wasn't till now that I realized how much people can change in a short amount of time. Yes, he was different now, but looked at his wide grin, I could tell that deep inside him, that boy I knew from childhood was still living and breathing.

I ran from my spot in front of the tree over to where he stood. Seeing me coming, he held out his arms to catch me in an embrace, spinning me around. It felt so good to be in his arms again. I definitely missed this, missed him. I missed the way he would protectively hold me, the way he smelled like the nature around him, the way his smile could brighten up the room. Memories came flooding back and it almost felt like we were back in the Dauntless compound, talking about our future and everything that was to come. Some days, I wonder what it would've been like to stay in that faction, to go closer to Paul, and become a leader, standing right beside him in life. That's definitely where I say my future way back then. But when did all of that change?

I felt myself slowing down and coming back into reality. Paul had placed me back on the ground and his face changed from a warm smile to a serious expression in a matter of seconds. Something had to be wrong for him to lose his light and beautiful glow and adopt this rather stern one.

"As much as I love seeing you again, I'm here on urgent business," Paul stated, taking a step back from me.

My face scrunched into confusion, "Alright, umm, let's go somewhere we can discuss this, then."

I gestured for him to follow me, as I headed back up towards the tree. I lead him to a door around the back of the building, out into the lush green fields, far away from the singing workers and the laughing children. Out to where it would be just the two of us, with a wide open view of Amity's flowery scenery.

I turned around and looked at him, his eyes still holding the glimmer that shown when he recognized me, "This should be good enough. So why have you come here?"

Paul sighed, probably wishing he had been here on better terms "The Dauntless have been attacked."

"You expect me to believe that our brave protectors and the only processors' of weapons have been attacked? Forgive me, if I have a hard time with that one." I smirked, almost laughing at the idea.

He looked up at the sky in frustration of my comment. His eyes taking on a darker tone then the glimmer they held earlier. He was growing more and more serious as this went on and it was almost scaring me. Paul was never a serious person, so to speak. He would rather joke around then hold a deep debate with you. But he also knew when things had to be this way.

He leaned over, grasping my hand and dragged me down into a sitting position across from him, like he did when we were children and I refused to listen to him. I sat up straight, preparing myself to what was to come.

"I'm being serious, Stephanie, and an attack on Dauntless should not be taken lightly."

"Okay, fine," I started, "Who attacked you, though. No other faction has the means to take you on or a reason for that matter."

"It's not another faction, though," he paused momentarily, "It's our own."

I stared at him in disbelieve, "It's happening internally? Isn't that your job to keep your faction in line?"

Paul immediately stood up, shaking with anger "Are you challenging me as a leader!"

I was a little taken back by his comment. I knew what type of person he was. He was strong, compassionate, confident, and inspiring. He was more than capable of handling his faction all of his own which proved where he was today. Normally, Dauntless depends on at least three leaders to keep the faction at bay, but Paul stands alone. The only leader in more than twelve generations. I would never, ever think to call him out on being a poor leader and I was a little offended that he thought so little of me.

Without standing, I reached out my hand for him to take, "I wouldn't dream of challenging you. I'm just wondering why your faction is rebelling at the moment."

He refused to take my hand and decided to pace instead, continuing his explanation, "It's not the whole faction, just a few here and there. More people each time it happens. What's odd is that they're not people when these attacks happen. There's never any expression on their faces and they don't say anything. It's like they're zombies. Then when morning comes around, they're back to normal and they don't remember a thing. I don't know what's going on and I don't know how to fix that. That's why I came here, I need help."

I stared at my hands for a few moments, taking in all the information and trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for why this was happening. Nothing like this has ever happened before and if the Dauntless can't handle it, what's to become of the other factions if it began to happen everywhere?

"Has anything out of routine been happening lately? Anything new these people are doing before they take on this "zombie" like state?"

Paul stopping pacing and looked down at me, "Erudite has been sending more fear simulations, recently. New ones for testing, I think."

Simulations! When a person is put under simulation, they're almost in a dream like state. That would explain why the attackers were in a zombie like state, but there is no such simulation that would allow a person to be controlled.

AS if he could read my mind, Paul questioned, "You don't think Erudite is controlling some of the Dauntless, do you?"

I looked up at him, "Even if they were trying to control the faction, why would it only affect some people and not everyone? The simulations are mandatory, right?"

"Everyone goes under the simulation at initiation…unless…" he wondered off.

"Unless what?" I stood up to meet him at eye level, searching his face for some sort of clue.

"During my testing, the results were…inconclusive…The guy testing me told me I was Divergent, which meant that I could control the simulation I was given. So I could change the situation or environment I was put into to. Maybe there are more like me. Maybe not everyone can be controlled."

Paul was divergent too? I remember being told that I was divergent at my testing but the woman testing me never told me what it meant, just that it was dangerous. If Erudite really found out that there were people that couldn't be controlled, they would try to deal with them in a different way. People's lives could be at stake. Paul's life could be at stake.

"Steph?"

Deciding whether to tell Paul the truth, that he wasn't alone and that I was divergent as well, or to keep the secret to myself, I responded, "If such a thing exists, it could be possible that the simulation would only affect the ones who can't fight it off."

I was told at the testing not to reveal my results and I intent to keep it that way. Paul might be my friend but this was a dangerous situation and my faction comes first now and leaving them without a leader would be like feeding them to the wolves and I couldn't allow that.

"So what does this all mean? What do I do?" He asked, hoping that I would have some magical solution to his problem.

I sighed, "There's nothing you can do. There's no way to know for sure that Erudite is doing this on purpose. It might just be a side effect to the new simulation. From what you told me, nothing big has really happened. Just a few people getting up and causing trouble for a few hours and then things go back to normal. It might be nothing, or it could just be the beginning of something. Just stay alert and if something big happens, be ready for it."